The Ultimate Showdown

                  VS.

I don’t know if you remember this as a kiddo…oh, who am I kidding, we all do.  Momma says “No” and that is not the answer we were hoping for/feeling entitled to…so what’s a girl to do except go and ask Dad?

Oh, yes, Abi has started the process of pinning DW against AW.  But, we won’t have it, dearest one!  We just laugh, as our house is small enough that we hear her ask the other one and then come ask us the exact same question if she is not satisfied with the first answer.  She’s gotten pretty creative, I’ll give her credit.  And her tenacity doesn’t fade easily.  But we just smile, and repeat the answers that we heard our parents give us time and time again.  Oh, how history repeats itself.

Abi’s Reward Chart

Houston, we have a problem.  Our champion of a sleeper, little Miss Abi, is having some issues with Mr. Sandman.  I can feel the eyes rolling in my direction – for most of the wonderful 2 1/2 years of our lovey’s existence – she has been such a great sleeper.  Long nights, full naps - “sleep life” was good, very good.  But, then we introduced that silly toddler bed.  I war between daily regretting that decision and then having to remind myself that it had to come sooner than later.  Sooner in our case, because that crib is going to have a new resident in 2-ish months!  That delightful sleep I was talking about?  It’s not been so good. 

Wonderful Donald gets up with her most nights (the multiple times we hear that little door open and the pitter patter of little feet down the hall into our room) so that preggo here doesn’t have to lift and then struggle to go back to sleep.  What a man!  But, he’s tired too!  And we know that sleepless nights aren't that far away.

So, we started a reward system.  A sticker for every time that she stayed in her bed until 3 for her naps, and a sticker for every time that she did not come out of her bed in the night – and that meant right after putting her down or in the middle of the night.  Abi picked her treat – a “really big, special” sucker (you should hear her say that, it’s so darn cute), decided on the colors of the chart, and off we went!

 

Taking ownership of that chart down to the placement on the door!

I guess I forgot to take a picture of the completed chart, it is safely stored away in a memory box…that’ll probably be one that gets nominated to be recycled, but it seems so precious now!

Notice the half stickers – this was a change to keep her motivated during the night.  If she stayed in bed during the “falling asleep” time, but awoke during the night – she still got a 1/2 sticker :)

The wonder of gummy ‘ABC’s’ ousted that really big, special sucker!  Here she is after her last nap to complete her chart…love that bed head!

We’re now on reward chart #2.  No credit for naps this time around.  Only staying through the night earns you a sticker.  Momma & Daddy are laying down the law!  Her motivation this time is to go see a movie – she’s pretty stoked!  We’ve sat at 4 stickers for about 1 weeks now…oh goodness.

I’m thankful for…

Sweet Friends with Creative Mommies!

The Happiest of Birthdays…

Two of Abi’s most favorite people celebrated their 3rd birthdays today!

We are thankful for:

Our dear cousin Joshua.  He and Abi have such a beautiful little relationship.  They truly love each other and are so excited by any time that they get to spend together.  We love Joshua’s spirit and delight to see him grow into such a wonderful little boy!

Sweet Emory.  Thankful to be neighbors once again, Abi has the special privilege of living just down the street from one of her dearest friends.  We love Em’s darling laugh and are thankful for the friend that she is to our abi.

Happy Birthday, Josh & Emmy!!

A little lesson on Jericho

When we are reading our bibles, we try our best to get Abi to read hers too (haha, doesn’t this sound so serene, I wish it was always this perfect of a scene!)  The other morning she had stopped on the battle of Jericho.  So donald spear-headed the effort of doing what any Dad would do…we made props and acted it out.  So much fun.

The city of Jericho and its citizens…

Abi & Doons marching around the city 7 times…

And the big moment!!!

(and baby too)

And then we rebuilt…straying a bit from the story!

In search of the last green acorn…

Abi loves acorns.  It is a real bummer that among the small forest that we have growing in our yard, not a single tree is an Oak.  But, this lends for great motivation during walks.  We look for oak trees, we try to spot where the squirrels are running, it’s great!  For whatever reason though, Abi is quite particular with her acorn hunting.  She does NOT like the brown ones (unless they are nearly black, then they are worth holding on to) and will gather them only to throw them into the street.  Curious one, that abi.  We do not like acorns to “wear hats” – this warrants a street destination too.  BUT, Abi lives for the green acorns.  We will hunt and hunt until we find them.  And then in the last few weeks we’ve declared that surely this must “be the last green acorn” and get all excited about the find.  I mean, wouldn’t you?!

Just a snippet into the daily chronicles of our abi.

A peak at the peacock…

More to come, but isn’t she darling?!

Sanctification Through Motherhood

These posts are often the hardest for me to write, and the most fulfilling.  They require reflection, usually a decent dose of humility, thankfulness, JOY, frustration, and at times sadness.

Recently, Abi has been in a mega daddy phase.  It is very different from the daddy phases of earlier times.  If she is in the “daddy zone” there is absolutely no room for her momma.  Oh goodness, here it goes…I get my feelings hurt!  Can you believe it?!  The thoughts of “Precious child, I choose (insert humility…I am so thankful I’m given that choice) to stay un-showered for longer than is desired, eat at strange times, sacrifice sleep, put (or try to put!) my needs on a back burner, and at times have great angst over “trying to do it right” (ahhh, yep another dose of humility) – and you’re actively choosing to snub me?!”   constantly flood my mind when she is in this zone.  But why?!  (Yes, I do understand that she is only 2, but these feelings are unfortunately very real at times!)  But, I’ve lately been convicted of how I will 1) love this child with everything in me for as long as I shall live.  She is a beautiful treasure that I’ve been given the greatest honor of steering and shaping and 2)In a strange (very ridiculous and silly) way I want some sort of appreciation…I want to feel loved in return.  Perhaps my motivations are not what they should be. 

How many other relationships do I (on some level) do this in?  Do I think of my input and expect some level of that returned to me?  Why am I not joyfully giving simply because of the grace that I have been given. 

Watching our Abi video…

(Isn’t she lovely?!  I had a necklace on today, so the pearls must come out!)

OH!  If I could just bottle up moments – I think I’d choose to save some of this afternoon for sure.  Abi’s been feeling a bit under the weather, so we just took it easy today and stayed close to home.  One of the things we did was watch some “little abi” videos – on the computer, you know the way we did when we were kids!  We would watch one and Abi would say “More!  More abi videos!”  It was such a delight to just sit with her, snuggling, and reflect on the goodness that we so don’t deserve, but our hearts are thankful for.

Hehe, here’s one of the clips that we had fun watching!

Oh the joys…

of being 2 !!

There is a richness that I’ve observed in being 2.  Life is grand, it is lived fully…as what point would there be in living life in only a half effort?

what abi waddled out in one morning…

I imagine that being dressed as a princess just might make helping momma clean that much more wonderful!!

Oh, these shoes.  These were a most precious gift given to abi from her sweet friend emmy (and her momma!).  They are loved.  Truly.  She wants to wear them everywhere.  everyday.  I just don’t think their presence could elude the blog!

Once again…

It’s that time of year – when the arboretum sounds amazing and not like insanity in the heat.  Oh, thank heaven for this weather!  I so sincerely missed being outside this summer, that I feel like I practically could live outside right now.  First thing in the morning – windows open.  Second thing – what are we going to do outside today?!  The Arboretum answers that question on a weekly basis.

And it’s pumpkin time.  Oh, glorious pumpkin time.

 

 

Unforuntately we have developed a bit of a hay obsession.  It dates back to visiting with Josh opening weekend, they had so much fun with the hay…oh cousins!

Trying to get 3 two-year-olds to look at the camera is pretty much impossible.  Great effort was given though.

No pumpkins, oh but the fun!!

The reality of a long day – Sanctification through Motherhood

I feel like at times long days have become synonymous with Abi being 2!  Oh my goodness, I love this girl so much – but I am realizing that tending to a child’s soul is not the easiest task in the world!  At times I am oh so tired.  At times Abi is oh so not impressed by my attempted “stellar mothering skills.”  One day at a time.  I am so thankful for the lessons of humanity, grace, humility, and patience that loving this little heart have given me (even though sometimes I do not recognize them as a gift, and I fight the learning of these lessons!).  Recently, I just had to take pictures….or I might have gone crazy.

Yep, that’s my awesomely clean kitchen…looking good, huh??

Did you want a closer look??

No…I did not strap my child in…she did that willingly, although she might have been exhibiting telepathic abilities.  Why is her carseat in the house, you ask?  Oh, that’s right…she went potty on the way home.  Ahhh.

And because I needed some downtime and this is something that I really believe in PLUS there is that little addition that we’re expecting in February…we have been working on mandatory reading time.  Where both Abi & I read for 10 minutes…Abi wanted to read in her tent…that' sounds great – oh wait, except she just wanted to play in her tent.  The books were just an accessory.  Try forcing a 2 year old to read.  It’s pretty funny.  Please note: there is no abi in this picture…just books being unread.

“But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.”  II Corinthians 12:9

Just singin’ in the Rain!

These are the moments when I wish that I more frequently had the heart of my 2 year old daughter.  Good times are to be had by just being outside when it rains…and I too frequently have something else to do / don’t want to get wet / am too lame.  Not her – oh, goodness, when the opportunity arises, the girl seizes the day!

Testing…one does not want to commit too quickly.

The next morning – it was still raining.  Good thing daddy is more fun than me!

’The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain.‘ ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow